The invention is an improved binding for a snowshoe, to make engagement of the binding convenient and reliable for the user.
Snowshoe bindings have taken a number of different forms. See, for example, Atlas Snowshoe Company U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,491 and 5,918,387. Those patents show strap bindings where the straps pass through adjustment buckles, requiring adjustment of tension in the straps over the shoe, sometimes also the joining of a buckle connection, as well as the engagement of a heel strap.
The straps described above have often been employed along with some form of harness shell capable of engaging around part of the shoe and with sufficient flexibility to generally conform to the shoe. Again, see Atlas U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,387. Such a shell was effective on some snowshoes to minimize direct contact between the straps and the shoe.
The snowshoe binding of this invention makes several important improvements over prior snowshoe bindings. The binding of the invention enables a user to pull a single strap loop or handle to effect adjustment and tightening of straps over both the toe area and the arch area of the foot simultaneously. A harness shell is included, extending up from a footbed on one side, and a further harness element is provided on the opposite side, and the straps engage with these harness components in such a way as to allow the harness shell to xe2x80x9cfloatxe2x80x9d over the boot and find the optimum position over the boot for securely and comfortably engaging the boot. The arch of the boot, at bottom and up the side, is firmly engaged by a band of the harness element, providing stability and resisting boot rotation.
In a preferred embodiment a single strap provides both strap securements, at toe and arch, and the toe securement has a loop-over return in the strap to provide mechanical advantage in addition to that provided by the slip-through type locking buckle preferably used.
The binding or harness of the invention thus provides for a single tug on a strap loop to snug the harness down to the boot, both at the toe and at the top of the arch and into the user""s arch, firmly engaging over the shoe or boot.
It is thus an object of the invention to improve on the manner of and efficiency and reliability of binding the user""s boot into a snowshoe. A related object is to firmly engage the user""s arch thus to increase stability and prevent rotation of the boot in the harness. These and other objects, advances, and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment, considered along with the drawing.